The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Sessions Court-2, K.M. Radhakrishna, has sentenced a 42-year-old Abdul Lathif of Kandavara village to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹60,000 on finding him guilty of raping a 17-year-old girl.
According to the chargesheet, the girl was working as a sales girl in the readymade garment shop of Lathif. In April 2017, the girl complained of headache. Lathif made her take a tablet along with juice and asked her to rest in the change room. When the girl was unconscious, Lathif sexually assaulted her. He blackmailed her showing the video of the incident and sexually assaulted her a few more times.
The girl filed a compliant with the police on August 11, 2017, when she was pregnant by four months. She then gave birth to a boy. The DNA report showed Lathif as the biological father of the child.
Despite the victim and witnesses turning hostile, the judge relied on medical evidence and DNA report to convict Lathif, said Special Public Prosecutor Venkataramana Swamy.
Lathif was sentenced to 10 years and imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on June 21, 2022, for offence punishable under Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Lathif was also sentenced to one year of imprisonment and fined ₹10,000 for the offence punishable under Section 506 of Indian Penal Code.
